Financial IT leaders ignore data

Study shows that 76% of European financial services IT leaders place high value on data for making technology decisions – yet 64% will defer to personal judgement and experience when making strategic decisions

London, 23rd November 2015 – According to a new study, although senior IT leaders at financial service organisations place a high value on data, intelligence and third party advice, they find these regularly conflict with personal judgement, and the majority fall back on their own instinct and experience when making major strategic decisions.

The study, commissioned by Colt and entitled ‘Moments that Matter’, found that three quarters (76%) per cent of financial services IT leaders ranked data and intelligence as either first or second in importance when managing external events.

Conversely, a large majority (84%) of financial services IT leaders believe data and intelligence can conflict with their own judgement and experience – with the majority falling back on instinct when making major decisions. And in these ‘Moments that Matter’ nearly two thirds (64%) will defer to personal judgement and experience, despite the value these individuals place on data, intelligence and third party advice.

Key findings from the study:

76 per cent of financial services IT leaders ranked data and intelligence as highly important when making strategic decisions

84 per cent of leaders felt that intuition and experience can be at odds with other sources from which they make decisions, such as data or advice from third parties

64 per cent of leaders will defer to intuition and personal experience as they believe it is more effective than data analysis in driving a successful strategy. That increases to 73 per cent of leaders when making decisions under pressure

“Data is critical in devising IT strategy and making the best decisions for businesses. This is especially the case in the financial services sector, which uses extensive data analysis and relies on technology to provide continuous access to the latest market statistics and trends to inform firms’ strategies. Despite this heavy dependency on data, this study indicates that the majority of IT leaders still rely on their own intuition and experience for making major decisions,” said John Loveland, VP Capital Markets at Colt.

“Intuition and experience become an even stronger driver when firms are faced with new pressures that require a new set of skills – such as the requirement to comply with upcoming MIFID II regulations. IT teams need to make use of all expertise available – both inside and outside the organisation – to create a collaborative approach that enables them to react appropriately to market changes and continue innovating to gain competitive advantage,” continued Loveland.

According to the study, more than three-quarters of financial services IT leaders (78%) believe their career success is defined by key moments that generate recognition and deliver success for the wider organisation. The majority (76%) state a supplier’s ability to help them excel during critical points in the company’s calendar is more important than ongoing support. Moreover, 68 per cent consider technology partners as a source of technical innovation.

Notes on research methodology:

301 senior IT decision makers completed an interview during August 2015, with an equal split for UK, French and German respondents – including 74 from financial services organisations. Of the participants surveyed, their business revenues spanned 10M to 5BN Euros, with the majority ranging between 100m and 500m Euros. The research was conducted by Loudhouse, an independent research agency based in London.

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About Colt

Colt provides network, voice, and data centre services to thousands of businesses around the world, allowing them to focus on delivering their business goals instead of the underlying infrastructure. Customers include 18 of the top 25 banks and diversified financial groups and 19 out of the top 25 companies in both global media and telecoms industries (Forbes 2000 list, 2014). In addition, Colt works with over 50 exchange venues and 13 European central banks.

Colt operates across Europe, Asia and North America with connections into over 200 cities globally. It completed the acquisition of KVH in 2014 – which now operates under the Colt brand – an integrated data centre and communications services business, with headquarters in Tokyo and operations in Hong Kong, Seoul and Singapore.